Bucks sweep Eagles, Rough times in Anyang

Icebucks vs Eagles 4-3

As the season progressed, the Eagles looked more and more invincible. They cut through their opponents and barely skipped a beat. Before their latest series with the Bucks, they had lost only twice in regulation; once to Anyang Halla, and once to the Cranes. They lost only one other game in overtime to the Cranes. High1 and the Freeblades had been unable to dent them, and the Bucks previous three games against the Eagles were all unsuccessful. With teams playing seven game series this year, it will make the final game between the Bucks and Eagles on March 3^rd very exciting.

Despite being heavily penalized in the first period, and giving up two powerplay goals the Bucks managed to escape the first period tied at 2. Thanks, in part, to a shorthanded goal scored by Ueno. In the second, the teams exchanged goals including another shorthanded goal by Eagles Takahashi, who got his second of the game. In the third the Eagles poured it on. Outshooting the Bucks 12-6. Even with a late period powerplay and pulling the goalie for 1 minute and 15 seconds it was the early period goal by David Bonk which was the decider as Fukufuji shut the door.

Ueno and Ishizuka each had a goal and an assist for the Bucks. The Eagles outshot the Bucks 48 to 21 on the game.

Halla vs Freeblades 5-1

After last night’s intense game which featured a bit of rough, the teams came out very aggressively in the game. Halla came out hard, throwing the body and aggressively pursuing the Freeblades. Ji-man scored first for Halla, just seven and a half minutes into the game. Early on there were some controversial calls with Halla captain, Kyung-won, often complaining to the referee. After an early call against Woo-je Sung for cross-checking a later, similar play by the Freeblades was permitted causing the fans to erupt. The first period grew further controversial on Halla’s second goal. A shot by Sang-woo was stopped by Freeblades’ netminder Michikazu Hata was left on the ice in front of him. Hata was unaware of where the puck was, but it was sitting on the ice in front of his pads. Two Freeblades’ players stood in front of him protecting the net and the Halla players glided as all expected the play to be whistled down. However, the referee had an unobstructed view of the puck and after the players looked to him waiting for the whistle, he gestured and indicated the puck was still in play. Woo-je Sung leapt into action and quickly moved to the net striking as the goalie tried to figure out where the puck was, in the confusion the puck ended up in the net. The Blades exploded in protest but the goal stood.

Late in the second Sang-woo put Halla up 3-1. Through two periods, Halla had out-shot the Blades 30 to 15.  Very early in the third, Tae-hwan Park picked up a loose puck out of a bobbled mid-ice play and headed for the Blades’ zone. Tae-hwan is the Halla enforcer, not exactly known for his shooting skill. But on this play, he looked like a veteran sniper. He walked into the zone and fired off a clean wrist-shot that beat Hata. Putting Halla up 4-1. With Seven minutes to go Jackman added another, then the game started to get messy.

With the game clearly in hand, and only 17 seconds to go, Halla forward Jung-Hyun Ahn chased a puck deep in the Blades’ end. Only playing in his third game this season, he came in hard on Hata as he played the puck behind the net. Hata seemed slow to clear the puck, and also unconcerned at the incoming Halla player, perhaps believing that the unwritten rule that one does not hit the goalie, would protect him. He would have been wrong. Ahn came in hard and launched Hata off the ice and back several feet. As Hata picked himself up, the Blades were predictably upset, and Ahn’s linemates predictably defended him. As all 10 players tussled, punched, grappled and struggled behind the net, Hata calmly skated away from the melee seemingly no worse for wear. When the players were finally separated, Ahn received 39 minutes in penalties, 5 minutes for charging, 2 double minors for roughing, a 10 minute misconduct and a 20 minute game misconduct. Ji-min Kim of Halla also received a 4 minute double minor for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct. Fletcher and Farynuk of the Blades each received double roughing minors and 10 minute game misconducts.

Hitting a goalie is a touchy subject. Teams will defend their goalie to the last man, but the rules generally make goalies fair game outside the crease. It’s also unclear why it took Hata so long to move the puck, he may have bobbled it behind the net, but under normal circumstances he should have had the puck gone and been back in the net by the time Ahn arrived. That said, with 17 seconds left in a 5-1 game, it is probably not the time to be running the goalie. The Freeblades and Halla have split their six games so far this season which means their seventh game should be quite interesting. They’ll meet again Feb 17^th in Anyang.

Jackman, Woo-je and Sang-woo each had a goal and an assist, while Radunske and Dong-hwan each had 2 assists. Dong-hwan Kim received an award from the team after the game for reaching 100 points in the Asia League.

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